Summertime
by Matteho
Summary: Schools out for the summer and just in time for a family camping trip filled with adventure and romance.


**Chapter One**

Seven years, two-hundred-fifteen days, five hours, fifty-nine minutes, thirty-five seconds of my life have been devoured by school. That's not including extra time put in on my behalf for homework. Most of the school year these numbers would have been my friends, some even my best friends, but at this moment they were merely a marvel in the back of my mind. At this moment, on June 29th, the only thing occupying my mind was how fast I could run home and my family leave for our annual summer camping trip. That moment would reveal itself in twenty-five more seconds.

Indeed, I did run home as fast as I could. Slamming through the school doors, along the gravel path, and over the old wooden fence; all the while my backpack bouncing after me.

There is no place like home. To the untrained eye my house would seem just one of many along this neighborhood road. My dad says we bought this house because of it's proximity to my elementary and soon to be high school. My mom says we bought this house for the maple trees; planted closely together and lining both sides of the street. One of my earliest childhood memories is of my parents taking me for an evening walk in the winter time. Contrasting colours of the white snow and the vast star speckled sky above the bare maple trees, will forever be etched in my memory.

I would have had my own reasons for buying this house. The first and foremost being the backyard. Two tall conifers kitty corner bordered by thick brush here and there. Along one side grew a pear tree and beside that a raspberry patch. Front and center was my castle – A free-standing tree house complete with slide and swings off to one side. My grandpa made it for my brothers and I when I was just four years old. For as long as I can remember, my backyard has been my playground and imagination station. Hours on end have been spent not doing homework, but exploring the jungle contained in the grass.

Bank robberies, jail-breaks, and man hunts took place in this jungle of a backyard. From the perspective of my G. I. Joe action figures, of course. But behind every great adventure was a mastermind, or more specifically, my mind. My G. I. Joes acted out every scenario that percolated in my mind. I only yearned for the chance to prove my mastermind in a real life adventure.

This camping trip was my chance at adventure. My imagination would be able to run wild while I explored the unexplored. Thoughts of bike riding through hilly trails, stocking wild animals, and coaxing the fire raced rampantly through my mind as I thought of the days to come. The tent trailer would be my home at night, and the wilderness during the day. All in due time, three hours and forty-five minutes to be exact.

While we drove, filled to point where my dog, Penny, was sitting on my lap, all sense of time evaporated. As the miles and scenery flew past my window, my dad's unsatisfactory estimations of the remaining travel time were all I had to hang on to.

"Are we there yet?" became less of a question and more of a prayer as the minutes passed by. The only answer to which was a disheartening "five minutes." Yet before the day was over, our van pulled into the camp ground, our beloved tent trailer close in tow.

"Yippee!"

"Hurray!"

"We're free!" Was all my brothers were thinking.

We all stumbled out of the van, disoriented as if walking out of the theater after a long movie only to discover that the sun has disappeared. While my dad checked us in and my mother waited in the van, my brothers and I checked to make sure everything was the way we left it last year. Across from the office was the pool, a trifle compared to what we were used to back home, but a marvel nonetheless. Further up the hill that was the main road was a small playground containing all the necessities. A castle with slide and monkey bars, swings, and a few monster truck tires. All around the office were camp sites, interspersed throughout the wilderness.

Besides Disneyland, this was my happiest place on earth. Nowhere else was I free from the torments of homework; free from the monotonous motions of home; free to be wild. This was our third year coming to this camp ground, and by now it felt like my second home. The excitement inside of me was overwhelming. The tasks before us now were to set up the tent trailer, unpack and get ready for bed, and unwind around our first campfire of the summer.

The boys – my brothers and I – ran along the tent trailer like vultures as my dad drove to our site. Number 51. A ways behind the office and further up the hill. I ran and suddenly stopped at the mouth of our site. It was a sixty by forty foot lot with a picnic table and camp fire along the left, bordered along three sides by densely packed evergreens. It seemed an abrupt introduction to what would be our home for the next week.

"Get out of the way if you know what's good for you," my dad growled from behind me. I quickly scurried to a more secure vantage point. My mother was now directing my father as he backed the tent trailer into the lot. After 10 minutes of zigzagging and a kindled temper on my dad's part, we were perfectly positioned.

The next hour proved to be an exhausting one. I helped my dad unhitch and unload the bikes. Then we wound up the tent trailer's lid revealing twenty-two feet of tenting glory. We then pushed out the two double beds on either end and began unpacking the many Rubbermaid bins stored inside. Many of these went under the tent trailer for later use. All the while my brothers were gathering firewood from near by campsites who's previous occupants had left some behind. This was a cheaper method by $15. Finally our camp site was beginning to look like I imagined it would.

My mom was setting out hot dog buns and condiments on the picnic table, long ago foreshadowed by the smell of them cooking. My dad was making the beds inside, quite ready for a beer and long sleep. My brothers were near by sword fighting with short tree branches.

"Can we bike around Mom?" I asked.

"Come and have a hot dog first," she countered. I readily complied not realizing how hungry I had become. Two hot dogs were quickly inhaled. My brothers and parents finished the rest.

My bike was one of my most prized possessions. I called it my "Harley." As the name implies, I was compensating for something. I came upon it much by chance. A friend of my dad's spotted it during his regular hunt in the city dump and thought we could use it. "An old trick bike," he'd called it. The only deckle read 'Kawahara' along the center shaft. After my first time behind the wheel of this one-gear-wonder I was hooked.

And so I tore out of the lot on my Harley. The natural objective: lose my brothers. It would prove to be a more difficult task than I had expected. My brothers had caught on to my plan and, like little brothers do, followed in my tread marks. I tightened my grip on the U-shaped handle bars as I pedaled harder to gain ground. Working my way up the road, I spotted an empty lot ahead, then end of which connected onto more roads beside the concrete washroom building. With a quick glance over my shoulder, I turned sharply into the lot and flew out the other end. As soon as I had rounded the corner of the concrete building I quickly pulled myself and my bike against the lee side.

"Ouch!" hissed a soft voice.

I was more than surprised to find myself almost on top of a girl! Our eyes locked for a second but told a thousand words. This girl appeared to be about my own age and height, graced with a head a flowing reddish-gold hair, and a face obvious kissed by many angels. Instinctively I jumped up.

"I'm sorry," I began.

"Shut up," replied the beautiful girl. I complied. Just then my panting brothers zoomed by on the adjacent side of the building. Suddenly it dawned on me that she was hiding from someone too, or something. Then as suddenly as she had appeared behind me, she took off around the other side of the building.

I was left petrified and perplexed. Never before had I met such a peerless and godly creature, not to mention almost crush her. Later that night around the camp fire and while lying awake in my sleeping bag I would wonder: who was this mysterious girl?


End file.
